UK in broadband slow-lane

The UK is in the slow-lane when it comes to broadband speed according to a new study from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - the OECD Communications Outlook 2007 report.

The OECD placed the UK 16th out of its 30 member countries, in terms of broadband download speed, with a maximum download speed of under 20Mbps.

Japan and Korea were top of the list with maximum broadband speeds of up to 100Mbps, while Australia and the Slovak Republic trailed behind with maximum speeds of just over 10Mbps.

The United States took the middle-ground with a top speed of 40Mbps.

Japan’s fast broadband connections are facilitated by the use of fiber-optic networks - speeds of 100Mbps are not possible with ASDL or most cable subscriptions.

The report also looked at value for money and the UK again performed badly, taking 19th place with a lowest monthly subscription price of $29.00.

Sweden provided the lowest monthly subscription charge at $10.79 per month.

However in terms of price per 1Mbps, Japan again took the lead with the UK in 16th place.

The United States was placed 13th, with $3.18 being its cheapest megabit per second broadband connection, while the most expensive nation was Turkey, at $81.13 Mbps.

The report is based on figures from October 2006, when 178 million people in the OECD countries were estimated to be broadband subscribers.